Investors are assigning more value to Uber than to many of the world’s largest car makers

Ride-hailing isn’t a threat to car makers now. But in a future of self-driving vehicles it could very well become one.

That helps explain why Volkswagen Group is paying $300 million for a stake in Gett, a Tel Aviv-based startup that competes with Uber Technologies in Europe. Chief Executive Matthias Müller said Wednesday he sees ride-hailing as the foundation of a “mobility on demand” service, which he wants to build up as a “second pillar alongside the classic automobile business.”